Over the past several months it has become evident to me there is a radical difference in worldviews within the staff of AHUMC. I have not read Sweet's concept of the predominate worldviews being spilt into Gutenberg and Google, but I think that is what I have experienced these past few months.
A simple and silly example is the Conference Journal which arrived at the church. These are like phone books that arrive on your door step which contain all sorts of information and they are helpful, but I have no idea how to use this tool. The format seems to be designed for a certain type of person (probably the District Superintendents) and seems chaotic to me. I never use these journals because I have no idea how to use or find information within it. The Journal comes with a CD which has all the information the printed book contains but is in digital form. I can use the CD, I have never booted up the CD but I can tell right away that I can use the CD. In an effort to conserve trees and save the conference money (I think the printed journals are $5 each plus shipping) I wanted to know if I could opt out of the printed Journal. When I inquired about how I might do this, I was met resistance and told that it is vital that I keep journals of years past. I am willing to keep the journals, I just do not want (or need) the PRINTED journal; just give me the CD. After 5 minutes of listening to people tell me I need a the journal (these individuals are all print people by the way), I conceded and walk out of the room. Silly, I know, but this plays itself out in much larger and more important ways.
AHUMC has a "Lord's Acre" celebration which raises money in which 45% goes to missions, 45% goes to trustees, and 10% goes to the budget. I cannot recount the entire conversation, but my frustration came when the conversation lulled on and on about the need to have this program reach out to the community but we do not do anything at the Lord's Acre which is actually for the community. Sure there are the obligatory bounce houses and face painting, but who really wants/needs another opportunity to put their kids into a bounce house while they stand outside watching them. Anyway when I look at the break down of where the money goes, 55% goes to the Church itself. I have to be honest I think there is still a large chunk of money in an account somewhere from the previous two years worth of Lord's Acre money which the church (or at least those in charge of the money) is unwilling to spend!
Another issue came up today as I was programming the thermostat for four adjacent offices. The four people in these offices are always cold, always. I got the book and followed the instructions on how to program the thermostat for the entire week. I was setting the temperatures to be at a level of comfort for these four people while at the same time set the temperature at levels which would be the most energy efficient for the "unoccupied times". In the middle of programming this, I was approached and told that we do not change the temperatures in these offices during the week because the ministers all have odd hours and it is "too difficult" to have the temperature set for these odd hours. First of all only 2 of these people are ministers and the other 2 are there only 4 days of the week from 9am-5pm. Even when the ministers are in at odd hours we are only in the offices for short periods of time. Meaning we CAN program the temperatures very easily which would save energy and money for the Church. I nodded my head and completed programing the thermostat. The assumption of the person raising an eye to my doings was that the thermostat cannot be change: ever. We cannot have people cold and we cannot have people hot. Well, that is one of the most idiotic things I have heard. It can always change and in the event something happens it can always be OVERRIDDEN! Temperatures indoors and churches should not be set in stone, they need to fluctuate with the needs of the people!
I am beginning to see why there are many of me peers who feel the need to "get their own church" because the position I am in now does not lend itself to actually create institutional change at AHUMC, I am afraid I may never have the ability to create institutional change in any church.
A simple and silly example is the Conference Journal which arrived at the church. These are like phone books that arrive on your door step which contain all sorts of information and they are helpful, but I have no idea how to use this tool. The format seems to be designed for a certain type of person (probably the District Superintendents) and seems chaotic to me. I never use these journals because I have no idea how to use or find information within it. The Journal comes with a CD which has all the information the printed book contains but is in digital form. I can use the CD, I have never booted up the CD but I can tell right away that I can use the CD. In an effort to conserve trees and save the conference money (I think the printed journals are $5 each plus shipping) I wanted to know if I could opt out of the printed Journal. When I inquired about how I might do this, I was met resistance and told that it is vital that I keep journals of years past. I am willing to keep the journals, I just do not want (or need) the PRINTED journal; just give me the CD. After 5 minutes of listening to people tell me I need a the journal (these individuals are all print people by the way), I conceded and walk out of the room. Silly, I know, but this plays itself out in much larger and more important ways.
AHUMC has a "Lord's Acre" celebration which raises money in which 45% goes to missions, 45% goes to trustees, and 10% goes to the budget. I cannot recount the entire conversation, but my frustration came when the conversation lulled on and on about the need to have this program reach out to the community but we do not do anything at the Lord's Acre which is actually for the community. Sure there are the obligatory bounce houses and face painting, but who really wants/needs another opportunity to put their kids into a bounce house while they stand outside watching them. Anyway when I look at the break down of where the money goes, 55% goes to the Church itself. I have to be honest I think there is still a large chunk of money in an account somewhere from the previous two years worth of Lord's Acre money which the church (or at least those in charge of the money) is unwilling to spend!
Another issue came up today as I was programming the thermostat for four adjacent offices. The four people in these offices are always cold, always. I got the book and followed the instructions on how to program the thermostat for the entire week. I was setting the temperatures to be at a level of comfort for these four people while at the same time set the temperature at levels which would be the most energy efficient for the "unoccupied times". In the middle of programming this, I was approached and told that we do not change the temperatures in these offices during the week because the ministers all have odd hours and it is "too difficult" to have the temperature set for these odd hours. First of all only 2 of these people are ministers and the other 2 are there only 4 days of the week from 9am-5pm. Even when the ministers are in at odd hours we are only in the offices for short periods of time. Meaning we CAN program the temperatures very easily which would save energy and money for the Church. I nodded my head and completed programing the thermostat. The assumption of the person raising an eye to my doings was that the thermostat cannot be change: ever. We cannot have people cold and we cannot have people hot. Well, that is one of the most idiotic things I have heard. It can always change and in the event something happens it can always be OVERRIDDEN! Temperatures indoors and churches should not be set in stone, they need to fluctuate with the needs of the people!
I am beginning to see why there are many of me peers who feel the need to "get their own church" because the position I am in now does not lend itself to actually create institutional change at AHUMC, I am afraid I may never have the ability to create institutional change in any church.